Montauk Weekend
by MariaClaire
Summary: Percy and Annabeth head to Montauk with Sally and Paul for Labor Day Weekend. It should be a relaxing weekend, but demigods don't always have it easy. Set between TLO and TLH.
1. Chapter 1

*****Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, world, weapons, video games, etc.*****

Annabeth was _not_ in a good mood when she left school at nearly five o'clock on the first day of September. She was pleasantly surprised, however, to discover her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, sitting on the front steps of her school, even if he was scowling and tapping his pen against his leg.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Percy turned and his scowl disappeared, replaced by relief. "There you are! I was afraid you got attacked by a monster or something and I couldn't get in because the stupid front doors were locked." He stood up and pocketed his pen. "What happened?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I had to retake a test, Seaweed Brain. Believe me, I didn't _want_ to stay late."

"_You_ had to retake a test?" Percy asked. She glared at him and he quickly turned his incredulous look into a sympathetic grimace. 'I mean, that stinks. What kind of test?"  
"Vocabulary test. I knew all the definitions, that wasn't the problem, but Mrs. Loughton wants us to spell everything right and I just couldn't get the letters straight."

Percy now looked genuinely sympathetic; dyslexia problems were something she knew he understood. "That sucks. You should have asked to take it in Ancient Greek."

"Very funny. She was nice enough to let me retake it, though, so I could spend more time on the spelling part."

"So no monster attacks?"

Annabeth shook her head. "The only things that attacked me today were Mrs. Loughton's vocab test and this stupid football player who kept hitting on me at lunch when I was trying to study for it." She shuddered, remembering how the guy kept trying to put his arm around her. "I told him I had a boyfriend, but he wouldn't leave me alone."

Percy narrowed his eyes. He suddenly looked like a guy who fought Titans and monsters and won. "Do I need to stop by tomorrow and, uh, _talk_ to this guy?" His hand drifted to the pocket where he had just stashed the pen that turned into his sword, Riptide.

"That's sweet of you, but don't worry, I dealt with it. Besides," she added, "I'm way scarier than you."  
"Are not."

"Am too."

"Are not. What happened to him?" Percy asked before she could respond again.

Annabeth smirked. "He went home early. Something about needing an X-ray and a new pair of pants."

Percy laughed. "Okay, you win. _Way _scarier."

"You know it." Annabeth smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She felt his hands slide around her waist, pulling her closer. Even after a couple weeks of dating, Annabeth still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that she could just kiss Percy now. She'd wanted to kiss him for over a year, since before they even went into the stupid Labyrinth, but they had seemed to just keep running into obstacles that drove them apart. Now that they were officially together, she was afraid she was taking advantage of the opportunity, just a little bit, but Percy didn't seem to mind.

Annabeth finally pulled away when she felt her lungs tightening up, begging her to breathe.

"Wow," Percy said. He looked like he'd been knocked over the head by a bronze shield. "Maybe I should stop by after school more often."

Annabeth grinned. "So what are you doing here today?"

"I actually came to tell you that my mom and Paul rented a cabin at Montauk for Labor Day this weekend and they said if you want to, you can come with us." He said the last part quickly, looking suddenly nervous, as if he actually thought she might say no.

"That sounds great!" Annabeth said, and it did. A weekend at the beach with Percy? It would be almost like they were normal teenagers. "I'll have to check with my dad, but I can't see why he'd have a problem with it, since your mom and Paul will be there."

Percy looked visibly relieved. "Awesome! My mom said your dad can call her, too, if he has any questions or anything."

"Sounds good. When are we leaving?"

"Friday, right after school," Percy said. "We'll pick you up here. Um, you don't have any tests on Friday, do you?"

Annabeth smacked his arm. "Watch it, Seaweed Brain."

Percy grinned and put his hands up in surrender. "Just asking. So, are you in a hurry or do you want to hang out in Central Park for a bit?" Since they'd gotten back from camp, the park had become their unofficial go-to spot.

Annabeth hesitated. In truth, she had a biology quiz and a geometry test on Friday, plus a paper due on _To Kill a Mockingbird_. Not to mention Apollo had been bugging her to finish the plan for one of his temples. On the other hand, it was only Tuesday, she had until Friday to get everything done, and it _was_ a beautiful day outside. "Sure," she decided, "but we can't stay too long. I've got to finish my homework and pack." She smiled at Percy. "My boyfriend is taking me to Montauk this weekend."

"Lucky guy." Percy grinned back as he took her hand and they set off down the street.

The rest of the week dragged so slowly that Annabeth could have sworn Kronos was back and messing with time again. Finally, though, it was Friday afternoon. Annabeth was the first one out the door of the history classroom and she had packed up and shut her locker before anyone else had even opened theirs. Hastily wishing her friend Sarah a good weekend, Annabeth almost flew down the hallway and front steps to where Paul's Prius was parked at the curb. Percy grinned and waved from the driver's seat. Paul got out of the front passenger's side and helped Annabeth put her stuff in the trunk.

"You're letting him drive?" she asked incredulously.

Paul laughed. "After everything you kids have been through, I figured holiday traffic wouldn't be that much of a challenge."

Sally didn't seem as confident. As Annabeth slid into the backseat next to her, she leaned forward. "Paul, are you sure you don't want to drive?"

"Mom!"

"Honey, you're a good driver, but 278 is going to be bumper to bumper and you haven't had your license that long."

"Sally, it'll be fine," Paul said as he buckled himself into the front passenger seat. "Percy can handle it and I'll be keeping an eye out, too."

"Besides," Annabeth added as she buckled her own seatbelt, "it can't be worse than the cars blocking the streets during the invasion and Percy did fine driving through that." She didn't add that he had been driving a scooter, not an actual car. "He can do it, Ms. Jackson."

Percy shot her a grateful look. "I've got this, Mom."

Sally bit her lip, but she looked from Percy to Paul to Annabeth and nodded. "Okay, sweetie." She sighed and leaned back against her seat. "I guess it's not the most dangerous thing you've done."

Percy laughed. "No, swimming in the Styx might take that prize."

"Or holding up the sky," Annabeth suggested.

"Or blowing up Mount St. Helens," Percy said.

"Or spraying Clarisse with toilet water." Annabeth grinned.

Percy shuddered. "Or—,"  
"Stop!" Sally said. She gave a shaky laugh. "Point taken. Let's hit the road." As Paul directed Percy on the best route out of the city, Sally patted Annabeth's arm. "I'm glad you're coming with us this weekend."

"Me too. Thanks for inviting me, Ms. Jackson."

"You're welcome. And call me Sally." Sally flinched as a taxi swerved in front of them and Percy hit the brakes, hard. "Driving might not be the most dangerous thing he's ever done, but it's still a little terrifying for me to see him behind the wheel of a car. I mean, I used to change his diapers."

Percy turned bright red and nearly hit a bicyclist. "Mom!"

"Sorry, honey, but it's true," Sally said as Annabeth and Paul laughed.

"You don't have to bring it up, though," he muttered.

As they passed over the Williamsburg Bridge which, courtesy of the gods, had been completely restored, Annabeth unconsciously rubbed her arm. Thanks to nectar and ambrosia, and Will Solace's healing skills, there wasn't even a scar, but she could still remember the feeling of Ethan Nakamura's knife piercing her skin. More vividly, though, she recalled the swooping, sick feeling in her stomach the instant before she took the knife, the feeling that said _Percy! Danger!_ She had reacted instinctively.

Percy caught her eye in the rearview mirror and she knew he, too, was thinking about the last time they had been on this bridge. She blushed and turned to look out at the view along the East River.

It was after seven by the time they reached the cabin. Traffic hadn't been quite as bad as Sally had feared, but it had still been slow going until they got farther out onto Long Island. By the time they arrived, all anyone wanted was dinner, so after dropping their things off at the cabin, they headed back out to a small seafood restaurant up the road. Paul drove, but Annabeth didn't think Percy minded, since he held her hand in the backseat all the way to the restaurant.

After dinner, they went back and had a chance to more fully explore the cabin. It was small, but cozy, with a combination kitchen and dining area, a living room with a very comfortable looking couch and a nice TV, three tiny bedrooms, and two bathrooms.

Percy whistled. "I always liked the cabin we usually stay in, Mom, but I've gotta say, this place is pretty sweet. Look, they even have an Xbox!"

Sally smiled. "It was a bit of a splurge, but Paul and I both agreed it was worth it. After all, we haven't had a chance to really celebrate your victory or go on a vacation. I think we could all use the break."

"Plus, you sold your short story to that literary magazine, _The Louisville Review_, that's definitely something to celebrate," Paul said, beaming at her. "It's going to be published in January," he told Percy and Annabeth proudly.

"Mom, that's great!" Percy said, giving her a huge hug. Annabeth nodded enthusiastically.

Sally blushed. "I didn't want to make a big deal about it. It's just a small magazine in Kentucky and the payment is two copies of the magazine with my story in it, but it's a good first step."

"Getting a story published is a huge achievement. It's worth celebrating," Paul said. He put his arm around Sally and kissed her cheek. She swatted his arm, but Annabeth saw the twinkle in her eyes when she smiled at her husband.

Percy cleared his throat. "So, about that Xbox?"

The others laughed. "Do they have any of the _Halo_ games?" Paul asked.

Percy dug through a basket of video games and controllers before pulling one out and holding it over his head. "Ta-da! It's the original _Halo_!"

"I'm in," Paul said, dropping onto the couch.

Annabeth and Sally exchanged a look, then Percy's mother shrugged. "Girls versus boys?" she asked, sitting down next to Paul as Percy set up the game on the TV.

"You're on!" Percy said. He handed controllers to his mom and Paul before sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Oh, we are so going to kick your butt," Annabeth said, sitting down beside him and taking the controller he passed her.

"Not a chance." Percy grinned at her as their players came up on the screen.

Unfortunately, he was right. Annabeth was pretty good. _Halo _was one of Matthew and Bobby's favorite games, so she'd played it in San Francisco before, but Sally had no idea what she was doing. She did manage to kill Percy once and Paul twice, though, by climbing into various vehicles and driving around until she ran someone over.

"And you were worried about _my_ driving?" Percy grumbled as Sally's Humvee ran him down.

After the first disastrous game, they switched teams, Percy and Annabeth against Sally and Paul, who didn't stand a chance. That one was over quickly. Then they played with Percy and his mom against Annabeth and Paul, which turned out to be the most equal fight. Percy developed a strategy of leading Annabeth and Paul right into the path of whatever vehicle Sally was cruising in, then standing aside while she hit them. The really embarrassing part, for Annabeth at least, was that it took her being run over three times to see his plan.

_Okay, if that's how you want to play_, Annabeth thought. She followed him again until she saw Sally coming for her. Then, at the last moment, she moved back and simultaneously threw a grenade, managing to blow up both Sally and Percy, who looked shocked. "Guess you better find a new strategy, Seaweed Brain," she smirked.

"How about this?" Percy asked as his character shot Annabeth's at point-blank range. Her mouth dropped open. He'd regenerated while she was just standing there. She glared at him and he grinned back.

Then, she smiled. "Two can play that game," she said as her character hit Percy's in the face with the butt of a gun. He hadn't noticed she had also come back.

"Oh, it's on!" he said and he chased after her as her character took off into a building.

In the end, Annabeth and Paul won, barely. Percy pouted as Paul and Annabeth high-fived. Sally laughed. "That was fun," she said, setting down her controller and stretching. "But I think I'm going to head to bed. I want to get up early and catch the sunrise, maybe take a walk."

"I like that idea," Paul said, standing and holding out a hand to help Sally up. He patted his stepson on the shoulder. "Good game, Percy, but you can't win them all."

"I guess not," Percy grumbled.

Sally kissed the top of her son's head. "Good night, honey."

"Night, Mom."

To Annabeth's surprise, Sally kissed her head, too. "Sleep well, Annabeth."

"Thanks, Sally, you too." Annabeth smiled. "Night, Paul."

"Night, kids," Paul said. He and Sally went down the hallway, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone in the living room.

Annabeth looked at her still-pouting boyfriend. "One on one rematch?" she asked.

His eyes lit up. "Yes!"

They ended up playing best three out of five and Percy won the fifth game by one kill. Annabeth ran left, thinking he was aiming right, but Percy threw a grenade and that was the end of that.

Percy punched the air with his controller. "In your face, Chase! I win!"

Annabeth was annoyed for a second, but then she got an idea. She leaned toward Percy, who froze like he thought she was going to punch him, but instead she kissed him. "Now, what were you saying?"

"Um, you're awesome?" he said.

She smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

"But I still beat you," Percy added with a grin.

"Fine," Annabeth sighed. "But we're playing Mario Kart tomorrow and I will _own_ you, Jackson."

"We'll see about that," Percy said. And before Annabeth could respond, he kissed her again, which effectively ended the video game discussion.

When Annabeth crawled into bed sometime later, she tried to focus on the design for the Olympian salad bar, which she was supposed to have completed next week, but it was hard to concentrate because she couldn't seem to get the stupid grin off her face. And for some reason, there was a very cheesy song stuck in her head, something about "Lucky I'm in love with my best friend" or whatever.

"Shut up," she muttered to the song in her head. She rolled over and commanded herself to think about the angle of the godly sneeze guard, but it was no good. Finally, she gave up on the salad bar and allowed herself to go back over the last half hour with Percy in her mind. She grinned into her pillow. It was going to be a very good weekend.

*****A/N: Okay, so for the record, I don't really know that much about Halo. My brother and my guy friends were really into it, but whenever I played, my strategy was the same as Sally's: get in a vehicle and drive around trying to run people over until somebody hit it with a grenade and killed me. This was a fun scene to write, though, I hope you enjoyed it. Also, the song referenced is "Lucky" by Jason Mraz, featuring Colbie Caillat. Totally cheesy, I know, but every once in a while, Annabeth should get to be just a teenage girl who's happy being with her boyfriend. This story is going to be three chapters total, Chapter Two should be up soon. Fair warning, it has quite a few Percabeth moments. Thanks for reading!*****

*****Also, **_**The Louisville Review**_** is a real literary magazine, run by Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. They publish fiction and poetry and are open to receiving submissions from students, grades K-12, as well as adults. Check out their website, .org, for submission guidelines. Just in case anyone is interested. : ) *****


	2. Chapter 2: Nearly Invulnerable

Percy should have known the day was going too well. He had woken up to the smell of pancakes (blue pancakes, courtesy of his mom), Annabeth had kissed him good morning, and after they had eaten, the two of them had spent an awesome morning on the beach. Being the son of the sea god, he knew how to have fun in the ocean, as long as he didn't do anything too crazy and alarm the mortals on the beach. Then, after a quick lunch of sandwiches, Percy and Annabeth had set off on a walk down the beach, away from the crowds. The walk, however, had soon turned into a race to the sand dune they were currently sprawled on, trying to catch their breath.

Annabeth propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at Percy. "You might have beat me at _Halo_, but I just smoked you. Admit it."

"Swimming contest next," Percy managed to gasp out. The sad fact was, she _had_ just left him in the dust. He was going to have to work on that. Of course, part of the problem may have been that he got distracted by her blonde hair flying out behind her, or how good she looked running in a bathing suit and jean shorts or—well, anyway.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Because that would be totally fair."

Percy grinned. "So you're—admitting defeat?"

"I'm not admitting anything, Seaweed Brain. I'm just pointing out that you have certain advantages in the water." She leaned over so that her hair was brushing his shoulder and Percy's heart started to pound like he was sprinting again. Her hair smelled like lemons, with just a hint of the sea. "But if you want to race, we can race."

"Maybe later," he said. The sunlight was making her hair glow and her gray eyes sparkle. Another race wasn't his first choice of a way to spend their time.

"Good answer," she said. She leaned down to kiss him and Percy's stomach flip-flopped. If he'd realized this was what he was missing out on, he would have told Annabeth how he felt a whole lot sooner.

Between the sun, the sand, the ocean, and his beautiful girlfriend kissing him, Percy figured even life as a demigod had its moments.

So naturally that's when the giant crab decided to show up.

There was a roar and a rush of water and Percy broke the kiss with a groan.

"I have absolutely no luck, do I?" he asked.

"None," Annabeth agreed. She was already drawing her bronze dagger, which was strapped to her shorts. Percy groaned again and reached for Riptide; he had bought swim trunks with cargo pockets for a reason. Together, they scrambled to their feet and turned to face the massive crustacean which was rising from the ocean.

"Didn't I kill you once already?" Percy asked it. The crab looked exactly like the one he had fought on Luke's demon cruise ship. "Or are you just the ugly brother?"

The crab roared (Percy hadn't known crabs _could_ roar, but apparently ones the size of dump trucks did) and swiped at them with its claw. Percy and Annabeth dove to the ground to avoid it. The claw itself was big enough to effortlessly snap several telephone poles in half and it was covered in smaller horns so that it looked like a rhinoceros herd was trying to break out of the orange shell.

Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek. "Oh this is just great. We don't have shoes, we don't have armor. You don't even have a shirt on!"

Percy looked down at his bare chest. "Doesn't matter. Curse of Achilles, remember? Invulnerable skin."

The crab's claw swung down like a hammer and they rolled to avoid it.

"Good news, then, Mr. Invulnerable," Annabeth said as they got to their feet again. "You get to cause a distraction, while I sneak around and try to find a chink in its shell so I can stab it."

"The underside," Percy said. The crab moved to strike again but Percy sent an eight-foot wall of water crashing into its face and it looked momentarily stunned. "There's a spot right in the middle of its stomach. That's how I killed the first one. But it's dangerous, I should—."

"Just distract it," Annabeth said and she took off running toward the crab's left. It was recovering from the shock of the wave and its beady eyes fixed on Percy as the only target within its line of vision. It roared again and started walking through the surf toward him, its massive claws clicking.

It was Percy's turn to curse in Ancient Greek as he backed away. He could tell the crab would like nothing better than to catch him in its claws and he didn't particularly want to test his invulnerability against something trying to snap him in half.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Annabeth dodging around the crab's legs, trying to get underneath it, but she didn't seem to be having much luck because the crab kept moving. Percy knew he needed to get it to stand still in order to give her a chance to get under it and get out. He forced himself to stop. He uncapped his pen and Riptide sprang to full-size.

"Okay, Crab Cakes," Percy said. "You want to dance? Let's dance."

He ran towards the crab. It didn't have much in the way of a face, but it somehow managed to look surprised at his stupidity. On the plus side, it had stopped moving. On the negative side, it got over its surprise quickly and swung its claw toward Percy again. He dodged the first claw easily, but he never even saw the second coming. It swung out of nowhere and walloped him across the back. As the claw connected with his skin, one of the small horns that covered it just barely nicked the small of his back before the claw sent him flying.

Pain exploded from his Achilles spot, radiating out from his spine and setting his nerves on fire. He heard a horrible scream he thought might be his own, but the pain was so all-consuming he couldn't even think.

He landed face-down in the shallows, gasping and shaking, while white-hot jets of agony continued to tear through him. It was as bad as being in the Styx again; he could almost feel himself dissolving. Dimly, he heard Annabeth scream, "Percy!", then the crab squealed (did crabs squeal?), and there was a loud splash, but the pain was so paralyzing he couldn't raise his head to see what was happening.

After several excruciating seconds, though, the pain began to subside from pure agony to mild torture. Percy realized he wasn't dead. The crab must have just scratched his Achilles spot, not pierced it. That was a relief, but it still _hurt_. He had a feeling it would have been even worse if he hadn't landed in the water.

All Percy wanted to do was lie there, letting the waves wash over him, but a splash, a thud, another squeal from the crab, and a shriek from Annabeth propelled him to his feet. Spots blinked in front of his eyes, but he refused to pass out. Riptide had been knocked out of his hand when the crab used him for batting practice and it hadn't yet returned to his pocket. Percy wasn't sure he could have lifted it anyway; his arms felt like they were filled with Jell-O.

He turned as the crab squealed a third time and splashed halfway into the water. Annabeth had used her dagger to cut through part of the crab's left legs and the monster was unable to stand. However, since the chink in its armor that would kill it was on its underside, this was actually a problem.

Too bad the stupid crab wouldn't just flip over on its back, Percy thought bitterly. He might have managed it with a wave, but he didn't want to risk it with Annabeth that close; he might drown her or the crab might accidentally crush her. He looked around for something, anything, he could use and he noticed a patch of soggy looking green plants, floating in a large patch not far away. Immediately, his brain formed a plan. He had never tried this before, but he thought it would work.

"Annabeth!" he yelled. "Get ready!"

She looked stunned to see him on his feet, but she nodded.

Ignoring the pain that was still radiating through him, Percy focused all his willpower on using the water to lift the seaweed up and around two of the crab's bad legs and then thought "pull!" as hard as he could. The crab's legs jerked as the seaweed rope yanked it towards the water and it flipped neatly onto its back, all six legs waving in the air, like a much uglier version of an overturned turtle.

"Now!" Percy yelled. He fell to his knees; the effort of flipping the crab had sapped the little strength he had left.

Annabeth managed to climb up the side of the crab's shell. Balancing on its stomach, she plunged her knife into the chink in its armor. The Celestial bronze did its job. The crab's legs flailed, it squealed one final time in dismay, then disintegrated, leaving behind nothing but a bunch of seaweed, a pile of yellow dust, and a very wet, very angry Annabeth.

The sea seemed to tilt in front of him and Percy fought back a wave of nausea as he sat down, hard, in the surf. He felt like he'd fallen off a building; everything hurt. There was a splash beside him and Annabeth's hand was on his shoulder. "Percy! Are you alright?"  
He shook his head. "I have some ambrosia in my pocket. Can you—can you get it?"

Percy silently thanked whichever god was responsible for cargo shorts as Annabeth unsnapped the pocket near his left knee and pulled out a square of ambrosia from the plastic sandwich bag he kept it in. He felt her arm go around his shoulders, helping him sit up as he ate the godly food. It tasted just like the pancakes his mom had made that morning. Between that and the water, he was beginning to feel better; at least, the sea wasn't tilted at a forty-five degree angle anymore and the sky had mostly stopped spinning. He looked at Annabeth. "I've got more ambrosia, if you need some."

She shook her head. "I'm fine. What happened, though, Percy? I saw that thing hit you in the back and then you screamed and I thought—I thought—," her voice was shaky and she didn't finish the sentence.

Percy sat up a little farther so he could put his arm around her waist, half-hugging her. "One of the horns on its claw scratched my Achilles spot. It hurt like Hades but I guess it wasn't deep enough to kill me."

Annabeth looked at him for a moment. He couldn't read the expression in her gray eyes. He hoped she would say something like, "You poor thing," and kiss him. Instead, her eyes narrowed and she punched him in the arm.

"You idiot!" she said, then grimaced, rubbing the knuckles of the hand she had just punched him with. "Ow, that hurt."

"Invulnerable, remember?" Percy said, reaching for her hand to make sure she hadn't hurt herself, but she pulled away, glaring at him.

"But you're not invulnerable! Not completely. You still have to watch your back!"

Percy didn't know what to say. "Annabeth—."

Before he could say anything else, she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Her voice was muffled, but Percy still understood her when she said, "After everything we've been through, I am _not_ losing you to an oversized crustacean."

Even though his sore muscles protested the movement, Percy put his arms around her. "You're not going to lose me. I promise."

Annabeth didn't answer. Percy could feel her shaking. He had to admit, after surviving Kronos, getting beat by a giant crab would be pretty embarrassing. He imagined the judges of the Underworld saying, "Well, you saved the world from the evil Titan lord, but got killed by a creature from a seafood menu. Sorry, Fields of Punishment for stupidity." He shuddered.

"Maybe I should get Jake Mason or someone else from Hephaestus to make a mini-shield that I can wear on my back. You know, like a bronze band-aid," Percy joked, hoping to make Annabeth feel better.

It seemed to work. She sat back and swiped her hand quickly across her eyes, then smiled. "That wouldn't be a dead giveaway or anything."

Percy shrugged, then winced as the movement sent ripples of pain down his back. "Or I could just walk around in full armor all the time. In New York, mortals probably wouldn't even think that was weird."

Annabeth smacked him, lightly this time, on the arm. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she said, but she was smiling.

Percy slid an arm around her waist again. "Make me."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, then she grinned in a way that terrified Percy way more than the giant crab had. She laced her fingers behind his neck, pulled him forward, and kissed him, lightly, on the lips. A shiver went down his spine. He tightened his arm around her waist and kissed her back.

When Annabeth pulled away, there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I just realized something. You used seaweed to bring down that crab."

Percy's brain was still foggy from the kiss. "Huh?"

"You, the ultimate, kelp-headed, Seaweed Brain, used _seaweed_ to beat a giant crab." Annabeth was now giggling uncontrollably. "That is just perfect."

Percy felt his cheeks flush, but he managed to grin sheepishly. "Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it did." Annabeth was still laughing. "But the next time I say you are _such_ a Seaweed Brain—."

"Oh gods," Percy groaned. "Can you please not tell anyone at camp?"

"I wouldn't do that," Annabeth said. She kissed him on the cheek, then got to her feet and held out a hand to help him up. "I might have to mention it to Thalia and Grover, though."

"Fine," Percy grumbled as she pulled him to his feet. "But if we're ever attacked by a giant owl, I'm getting my revenge."

"I'll take my chances," Annabeth said. "Are you okay to walk back?"

Percy took a few tentative steps, but his legs were still shaky. "Might need just a little help."

Annabeth put an arm around his waist and he leaned on her as they walked slowly back up the beach. "You know what this reminds me of?" she said with a small smirk. "That time you burnt your foot playing capture the flag."

"Stupid giant ants," Percy said. "And that bronze dragon." He glanced sideways at Annabeth. "Tell me the truth. Did you set that whole thing up to keep Beckendorf and I out of the game?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Percy rolled his eyes, then another thought struck him. "Has anyone seen that dragon recently?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Not since Beckendorf—well. Nyssa told me its running around the woods somewhere. They've been trying to find it and get it under control."

"Fun," Percy muttered. "An out-of-control bronze dragon? The satyrs will love that."

They reached the cabin and Percy was relieved to see that his mom and Paul were gone; he didn't want to mess up their day with the story of how the giant crab had almost killed him. Annabeth helped him to his room and he flopped on the bed with a yawn.

"Stupid curse of Achilles," he muttered. "Do I have time for a nap?"

"Your mom made dinner reservations for five-thirty, but it's just now three," Annabeth said. "Want me to wake you up in an hour?"

"You're the best," Percy said.

"Don't forget it." Annabeth smiled and gave him a quick kiss.

By the time she reached the door, Percy was already asleep.

*****A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Doing some final edits on chapter 3, it should be up in the next few days.*****


	3. Chapter 3: A Conversation with Sally

*****A/N: Sorry for the long delay in updating, life has been crazy lately. Although this was originally supposed to be a three chapter story, this is the second-to-last chapter. See the Author's Note at the end of the chapter for an explanation. Chapter Four should be ready soon. Thanks for reading!*****

"Hey, can I borrow your Yankees cap?"

"What?" Annabeth looked up, frowning, from her sketchpad as Percy dropped into the sand beside her. She had gotten up early this Sunday morning to work on her plans for Poseidon and Aphrodite's temples. She had hoped sitting beside the sea would provide her with some inspiration, and it had. She was just finishing the sketches when Percy showed up.

"Your New York Yankees cap. Can I borrow it?"

Annabeth blinked a couple of times, images of pediments and load-bearing walls still running through her mind. "What do you need it for?"

"I need to go underwater for a while, but I don't want to freak the mortals out, so I thought I'd go invisible. If, you know, I can borrow your hat." He looked at her with pleading green eyes, like a baby seal that wanted a snack. "Please?"

"I guess so, Seaweed Brain. But try not to lose it. I don't think my mother would be very happy about that." Annabeth really didn't have any problem with Percy using her hat, but she also didn't want him to think he could get his way every time by giving her that look (even though he probably could).

Percy shuddered. "I definitely don't want to make your mom mad. Where is it?"

"On my dresser."

"Great, thanks!" Percy gave her a kiss on the cheek before standing up and jogging back into the cabin.

Annabeth smiled to herself as she erased and redrew several lines on Poseidon's temple. Percy was back within a minute, her Yankees cap in his hand. "Found it!"

He stopped next to her and Annabeth looked up at him. "So what are you doing?"

"You'll see," he said. "How about a kiss for luck?"

"Do you need it?"

"Can't hurt." Percy gave her his typical, sarcastic grin.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she grabbed the front of his t-shirt, pulling him closer, and kissed him. "Try to come back alive, Seaweed Brain."

"Will do." With a wave, Percy plunked her cap on his head and disappeared.

She watched the ripples as he walked out, invisible, into the water. About waist deep, they stopped and she assumed he had gone under. Even though she knew his water abilities better than most people, it was always a little weird when he didn't resurface right away. She wondered what he was up to, then shook her head. It was probably something impulsive and, well, seaweed-brained. She smirked as she pictured the crab with its legs tangled in seaweed. Oh yeah, Thalia and Grover were _definitely_ going to hear about that the next time she saw them.

She looked over her drawings again. Poseidon's temple resembled a trident, with a long single gallery that branched off into three open-air pathways lined with columns. Across the front of the temple was a massive pediment, with a frieze depicting Poseidon and his Cyclops army rising from the Hudson River to defeat Typhon. Percy had liked the sketches she had shown him of the temple, which had been a relief. Poseidon was his dad, after all. Next to her own mother, Athena, he was the Olympian she most wanted to impress. It wasn't necessarily that she wanted Poseidon to approve of her, but she also didn't want him to tell Percy, "This temple your girlfriend designed sucks." She didn't want Percy to have to choose sides between her and his father. But he had said he thought his father would love it, especially since it was in the shape of a trident, Poseidon's symbol of power.

Aphrodite's temple was smaller and round, with a statue of Aphrodite standing on top of the domed roof. The roof would eventually be covered with white shells to look like sea foam, a reference to the sea foam from which the goddess was born. Annabeth thought it would give the temple an ethereal, romantic quality that Aphrodite would probably like. She made a few final, quick sketches and some notes on the side, then looked at the drawing again, satisfied. Hopefully, the love goddess would approve. Next to Apollo, Aphrodite had been making the biggest fuss about how her temples and statues needed to be _just right_. Annabeth loved redesigning Olympus, but sometimes having twelve immortal bosses led to some godly-sized headaches.

The sun had gotten surprisingly high in the sky while she had been working. Annabeth closed her sketchbook and leaned back, enjoying the sand under her fingers and the sun on her face. Percy wasn't back yet, but since she didn't know what he was doing, she couldn't judge how long it might take him. Her eyes swept across the ocean and the now-crowded beach, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Annabeth gave herself permission to relax and closed her eyes.

She jumped a foot in the air a minute later when someone suddenly sat down beside her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" Sally said, looking embarrassed.

"It's okay," Annabeth said, taking her hand off the hilt of her Celestial bronze knife as her heart rate returned to normal. "I just didn't hear you coming."

"Sand lets you be sneaky." Sally smiled. "I saw you sitting out here by yourself and I thought I'd come join you. If that's alright?"

"Definitely," Annabeth said, smiling at Percy's mom. "Where's Paul?"

"He ran out to get some groceries so we can make tacos tonight," Sally said. "Where did Percy disappear to?"

"He went into the ocean about half an hour ago, hasn't come back up yet," Annabeth said as casually as Sally had just mentioned Paul running to the store.

Sally took this in stride. "I'm sure he'll be back in a bit. Did he tell you what he was doing?"

Annabeth shook her head. "He was being kind of weird about it. Weirder than normal, I mean."

Sally laughed. "Maybe he has a surprise planned for you."

Annabeth shuddered. "That's a terrifying thought." Sally laughed again. "Probably a sea animal needed help. They come get him a lot at camp, like if a dolphin gets tangled in a fishing net or something."

"Maybe I should start calling him Aquaman," Sally said thoughtfully, then winked at Annabeth, who laughed.

"He might like that better than 'Seaweed Brain'," Annabeth admitted.

"Oh, I don't think he minds the nickname when you say it," Sally said, looking sideways at Annabeth, who blushed.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both looking out at the ocean. The waves were calm, the sky was bright blue, and there was just enough of a breeze to keep the sun from feeling uncomfortably hot. It was a perfect beach day.

"I love my husband," Sally said, "but the sea will always remind me of Poseidon."

Annabeth looked over at her. Sally was sitting with her eyes closed, the wind ruffling her hair. She looked happy and relaxed; it was easy to see why the sea god had fallen in love with her.

"I know what you mean," Annabeth said. Sally opened her eyes and looked at her. "The ocean always reminds me of Percy. If, gods forbid, we broke up, I don't know that I'd ever want to visit the beach again."

Sally's expression turned wistful. "You learn to focus on the good memories, not the sadness." She shook her head. "But hopefully, that's not something you will ever have to worry about."

Annabeth focused on her fingers, tracing patterns in the sand. "I hope not. Percy," she hesitated, then said, "Percy's the only person in my life who's ever really felt permanent. He's the only person who's never let me down." She forced herself to look up at Sally. "Not once."

Sally gave her a small smile and reached out to gently brush Annabeth's hair off her face. The simple motherliness of this act was almost foreign to Annabeth, but she didn't mind it. "I remember the winter you went missing," she said. "Percy IM'd me for advice about what to do after he'd been left off the quest to go after you and Artemis. I told him he had to do what he thought was right, what he thought was best for you, even if it meant breaking the rules. Because, I told him, I knew you would have done the same for him." Sally glanced at Annabeth, who was looking out at the ocean. "As it turns out, I was right. Percy told me what happened on the bridge."

Annabeth blushed, but she shrugged. "Like you said, he would have done the same for me."

"Which is why I'm glad you two have each other," Sally said.

Annabeth finally looked at her and smiled. "Me too."

Silence fell again as they both looked out at the sea, lost in their own thoughts.

After a few minutes, Sally turned to Annabeth again. "You know, since Percy's gone, that means I get to grill you for information."

The mischievous glint in Sally's eye, which was eerily similar to the one Percy sometimes got, made Annabeth nervous. "I thought you already had."

"I meant about your quests. Percy likes to leave out the dangerous parts and sometimes the parts that he thinks I'll tease him about. I was hoping you'd be willing to share."

Annabeth grinned. "Well, the embarrassing parts are _so_ much more fun than the dangerous parts."

Sally returned the grin. "I assumed so. What have you got?"

"Where do I start?" Annabeth said. "Well, the best was the time Circe turned him into a guinea pig…."

Pretty soon, they were both almost rolling in the sand, laughing as Annabeth recounted for Sally some of Percy's most seaweed-brained moments, including several epic Capture the Flag incidents.

"…and so I look up, and there's Percy, dangling upside down from the tree branch in this net the Hephaestus campers had rigged up." Annabeth was hiccupping from laughing so hard.

Sally's shoulders were still shaking with laughter, but she put a hand over her mouth, trying to calm herself down. "So then what happened?"

"Oh, I cut him down, of course," Annabeth replied, "_after_ my team got the flag."

"I bet he loved that," Sally said, still chuckling.

"He didn't talk to me for three days," Annabeth smirked. "Then finally, at dinner, he came over to ask if we could be on the same team next time."

"Smart boy."

"He does have his moments," Annabeth said.

With almost uncanny timing, Percy chose that moment to suddenly reappear in the water. Although she knew he could will himself dry, he was soaking wet for the benefit of the nearby mortals. The grey t-shirt he had on was sticking to him and Annabeth's heart started to beat a little faster. He was definitely not the scrawny twelve-year-old she had traveled to the Underworld with anymore.

The confused expression on his face as he walked up to them was reminiscent of his twelve-year-old self, though. "What are you two doing?"

"Annabeth and I have just been having a nice talk." Sally smiled at her son, who still looked concerned.

"You haven't been telling embarrassing baby stories about me again, have you?"

"Actually," Annabeth said, "I was the one telling embarrassing stories this time."

"I hear you made a very cute guinea pig," Sally said.

"Gods, Annabeth," Percy groaned. "I was _this close_ to forgetting about that."

"Which just means it was the perfect time to remind you," she said, smiling sweetly at him.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "So does that mean it's also a good time for me to tell my mom the story about the spiders at Waterland in Denver?"

"Not unless you want to walk around with a knife sticking out of your stomach," she said, still smiling.

"Won't work. Invulnerable, remember?" Percy grinned.

Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "That is so annoying."

Sally held up her hands in a time-out gesture. "Wait, back up. What happened with the spiders in Denver?"

Percy grinned again as he sat down beside Annabeth, who threw a handful of sand at him. While he was wiping it off, she turned to Sally. "You know about the old feud between Arachne and Athena?"

"Of course," Sally said.

"Spiders don't like me and," Annabeth shuddered, "the feeling is mutual. So, we're in Denver, on our way to try and rescue Zeus's lightning bolt from the Underworld, we think, when Ares shows up and asks us to retrieve his shield from Waterland, this old closed down amusement park."

"But it was a trap," Percy said. "Hephaestus was trying to catch his wife, Aphrodite, running around with Ares. Instead—."

"—he caught us," Annabeth finished. "With a bunch of nasty, little mechanical spiders."

"So Annabeth starts screaming her head off," Percy said. He rolled his eyes when she glared at him. "What? You were. We get in the little boat—."

"Boat?" Sally asked.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that we were on the Tunnel of Love ride?" Percy said. "Which, by the way, Annabeth said she didn't want to go on with me."

It was Annabeth's turn to roll her eyes. "I still wouldn't. They're cheesy and stupid. Besides, we almost died."

"How?" asked Sally.

"Like I said," Percy continued, "we were in this little swan boat, riding a flood of water through this tunnel, and at the end, where the ride would normally drop off into a pool, there's a gate, chained, with two wrecked boats in front of it."

"What did you do?"

"We jumped," Annabeth said. "Unfortunately, I over-estimated the amount of lift we would need so we _really_ went flying. Luckily, Grover grabbed us."

"He had flying shoes," Percy added. "So we safely crash-landed."

"Safely crash-landed?" Sally repeated, eyebrows raised.

"Yep," Percy said cheerfully. "Ares got his stupid shield back and we got a free ride to Las Vegas with a starving lion."

"A starving—you know what, I don't want to know." Sally shook her head. "Well, I agree that sounds entertaining, honey, but I'm sorry, you getting turned into a guinea pig is still much funnier than Annabeth being afraid of mechanical spiders."

"That's because Percy left out the most embarrassing part," Annabeth said. "The whole thing was streamed live to Olympus on Hephaestus TV. Apparently," she added dryly, "we killed in the ratings."

"Really?" Percy and Sally asked at the same time.

"Oh yeah," Annabeth nodded. "One of the Muses told me. I caught a rerun last time I was up there supervising the layout of Demeter's garden."

"How was it?" Percy asked eagerly.

"How do you think?" Annabeth snorted. "It was horrible and we looked ridiculous."

"But did we beat out the finale of _Hercules Busts Heads: Season Three_?"

Annabeth was spared having to answer by the sound of a door slamming and Paul's voice calling, "Sally?"

"I'd better go help him with the groceries," Sally said, standing up and brushing herself off. "Thanks for the stories, kids. Dinner will be about five."

As Sally disappeared into the house, Percy scooted closer to Annabeth. "So you're saying, if they put in a Tunnel of Love at Coney Island, you wouldn't go on it with me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. She gave him a quick kiss. "But I'd ride roller coasters with you all day long."

"That works," Percy said. He draped his arm over her shoulders and Annabeth leaned against him.

"So are you going to tell me where you went today?"

Percy hesitated. "Later, after dinner."

Annabeth looked at him curiously. "Why not now?"  
"Just trust me, okay?"

Annabeth sighed. "Fine."

They were quiet for a few minutes, watching the ocean and the crowds of mortals on the beach.

"Hey," Percy said quietly.

"Hmm?" Annabeth replied.

"I think you owe me a rematch."

Annabeth sat up straight and raised her eyebrows. "Oh do I? A rematch of what?"

"Our race yesterday," Percy said. He scrambled to his feet and held out his hand to help Annabeth up. She took it, somewhat bemused as he pulled her to her feet. He pointed to the same sand dune they had run to yesterday. "First one there wins?"

"Wins what?"  
He gave her a lopsided grin. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, but she was smiling. "Alright. On three. One—."

"Why wait?" Percy took off running.

Annabeth stared for a second, then took off running after him. "Cheater!"

"Can't hear you, too busy winning!"

Annabeth put on an extra burst of speed and caught up to Percy just in time to tackle him into the sand dune.

*****A/N: So, this chapter was never supposed to exist. It was just supposed to be about Percy going into the ocean and coming back out with something for Annabeth. However, Sally came outside and started talking to Annabeth, and it kind of went on from there. I hope the characters aren't too OOC, but I liked the idea of Sally and Annabeth bonding a little bit; from the books, especially from Annabeth's POV in MoA, it seems like they have a pretty good relationship. Consider this a bonus chapter in what was only supposed to be a three chapter story. Chapter four, the final chapter, should be up soon. Again, as always, thanks for reading!*****


	4. Chapter 4: Coral

*****A/N: Final chapter! Hope you enjoy! And, yes, a katobleps is an actual monster from Greek mythology; there's information about it on the Theoi Greek mythology website. And because I think I forgot to put a disclaimer on this story, all characters, their powers, etc. belong to Rick Riordan.*****

The dishes were nearly done when Annabeth spotted the stupid bull-sheep-thing through the window. She almost dropped the plate she was drying.

"Um, Percy?"

"Yeah?" He looked up from where he was washing the skillet his mom had made taco meat in, his arms covered in soap bubbles to his elbows.

"Please tell me I'm hallucinating and there's not actually a katobleps out there."

"A what?"

"The over-sized sheep thing walking down the beach!"

"Oh that." Percy squinted to make out the dim shape on the beach. "Yeah, it's really there."

"Fantastic," Annabeth muttered. "Apparently, we don't get to have a relaxing weekend." She set down the plate, dried her hands, and drew her bronze knife. "Come on, we'd better go stop it."

"Why?" Percy asked, still watching the katobleps out the window. "The cat-burps thing isn't hurting anyone. It's just taking a walk on the beach."

"It's a _katobleps_," Annabeth said, moving toward the back door. "And it won't just hurt people, it'll kill them. Now are you going to help me or not?"

"No, I thought I'd go another round on _Halo_ while you fight a monster." Percy rolled his eyes and shook the soap bubbles off his arms before drawing Riptide. He held the screen door open for her. "After you. Let's go kill the giant sheep."

They didn't have to worry about telling Percy's parents where they were going because Paul had taken Sally to a bar down the road so they could meet up with some friends from their writing class, who were also in Montauk for the weekend. Annabeth had been looking forward to spending the last evening at the cabin with just Percy, but it looked like the Fates had other plans. _Stupid monsters_, she thought as they walked down the path from the cabin to the beach, where the katobleps was trudging along the shoreline.

She had to admit, it didn't look very threatening, especially compared to the crab from yesterday. The katobleps was roughly the size of a bull, but it was covered in thick fur like a mountain goat or a yak. The fur covered everything, even its eyes, like a sheepdog. Its head seemed too big for its body and must have been heavy because it was hanging down until its nose almost touched the sand. It looked sad and, for a moment, Annabeth almost felt sorry for it. Then, she remembered the stories she had read about katoblepones, who used their power intentionally to hurt other creatures, and her resolve hardened.

"Whatever you do, don't look into its eyes," she told Percy as they cautiously approached the creature. "And try not to let it breathe on you, either."

"Bad breath?"

"Something like that. And the gaze will kill you."

"Wow, I wonder why no one wants it as a pet. What's it doing here?" Percy asked. The katobleps was completely ignoring them, still plodding down the beach. Annabeth followed its path. It was headed directly towards—.

"Oh," she said. Down the beach, a group of college students were having a bonfire. The sounds of music, clinking beer bottles, and raucous laughter echoed down the beach. "I'm guessing it's going to crash that party."

"Not cool," Percy said. "So, what do we do? Just stab it?"

"I guess so," Annabeth said. It felt wrong to just walk up and stab an animal that appeared to be minding its own business, but if it got to the party with all the mortals and started looking people in the eye, there was going to be a serious problem. "Alright, on three, we both stab it." She shot Percy a dirty look. "And, this time, please wait until I actually get to three."

He grinned. "Will do."

"One." They both took a step closer. The monster was only about three feet away and it still didn't seem to notice them. _That's weird_, Annabeth thought, but she shrugged it off. "Two."

Before she could say "three", the katobleps lifted its head, turned to look at them (luckily its shaggy hair still hid its deadly eyes), opened its mouth, and gave a humongous belch.

The smell was horrendous. It was like a thousand dead skunks had been left to rot on a pile of garbage in the middle of summer, with some manure tossed on the pile for good measure. Annabeth's eyes watered and she doubled over, clutching her stomach and trying very hard not to vomit.

Percy gagged. "What in Hades did this thing eat?"

The katobleps turned away from them and continued its slow march up the beach towards the party.

"New strategy," Annabeth said, wiping her eyes. "Stay as far away from that thing's mouth as possible."

"I vote 'yes' to that plan," Percy said weakly, raising his hand.

They followed the katobleps down the beach, maintaining a cautious distance and holding their breath the two times the thing turned to look back towards them. Annabeth's mind was racing. She had zero interest in getting close enough to smell that breath again, but they had to stop it. If it got to the party, she was pretty sure it would shake the hair out of its eyes and give a very literal meaning to the term "death glare."

"Too bad we don't have an archer with us," Percy said. "Then we could kill that thing without having to get close to it."

This gave Annabeth an idea. In a rare moment of ADHD-fueled impulse, she took aim and threw her knife at the katobleps.

The good news was that the Celestial bronze knife sank to the hilt into the monster's back. The bad news was that Annabeth was now weaponless as the katobleps roared like an angry bull and rose up onto its hind legs.

"Oops," she said.

"Aren't I the one who's supposed to make stupid and reckless decisions?" Percy asked as he stepped in front of her, Riptide raised.

"I thought we'd switch things up a bit," Annabeth said as the katobleps pawed the ground and prepared to charge. "So, um, any chance you have a plan?"

"I'm going to wait until it gets close enough, then cut its head off. How's that?"

"A plan worthy of my mother. You go right, I'll go left and try to get my knife back."

The katobleps charged and they dove out of the way. Annabeth leapt towards her knife, still stuck in the thing's back. She just managed to grab it and yank it out, leaving a long gash in the katobleps's back. The katobleps roared and reared back on its hind legs again, shaking the shaggy hair out of its eyes.

"Percy, close your eyes!" Annabeth shouted as she dropped back to the sand and followed her own advice.

"Die, Dung-Breath!" Percy yelled. Annabeth heard the thwack as Riptide connected with the katobleps, then the dull thump as what she hoped was the monster's head, and not her boyfriend, hit the sand. She risked opening her eyes.

The katobleps had dissolved, the way most monsters did, so all she saw was Percy, breathing heavily, sword still raised, his expression fierce. It was a good look on him. He looked over at her and lowered Riptide.

"Next time," he said, "can I go back to being the reckless one?"

Annabeth threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Yes."

"Good. Now, what are we supposed to do with that?" He pointed at the katobleps's head, which was lying in the sand. Annabeth didn't want to look directly at it, but in her peripheral vision, she could see that its tongue was sticking out and she could smell the breath from five feet away.

"I think it's supposed to be a spoil of war," she said.

"Are all spoils of war disgusting?" Percy asked.

"Most of them, yeah." Annabeth considered the head. "We need to be careful, though. It's like Medusa's head, it's still dangerous."

"Oh, that's a happy memory," Percy muttered. He capped Riptide and put the pen back in his pocket, then pulled off his t-shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"We need something to cover the head with and this is all we've got," Percy said. "Unless you want to take your shirt off?"

Annabeth punched him in the arm, but Percy grinned as he handed her his t-shirt. She held her breath as she got closer to the head and, without looking at it, she tossed Percy's shirt over the katobleps's head. "Gross. Now what do we do with it? I'm guessing you don't want to mail this head to Olympus?"

Percy shook his head. "Nah, only two or three of them hate me right now. Be nice to keep it that way for a while. We could send it to camp."

"Who are you trying to kill there?"

"No one, at the moment. But it could go in the attic, couldn't it, with all that other leftover quest junk?"

"Probably." Annabeth looked down at the t-shirt-covered head. "There's still the problem of how to get it there."

"We could ask Hermes for help," Percy suggested. "Isn't delivering things his job?"

"I'm not asking Hermes for anything," Annabeth said flatly. She couldn't help holding a grudge against the messenger god. She knew Luke's bad decisions hadn't been entirely Hermes's fault, but still, if Hermes had been a better parent, if he hadn't seemed so indifferent to Luke, maybe Luke wouldn't have agreed to help Kronos, maybe he would still be around—but no, she caught herself. That was an ugly train of thought and it didn't go anywhere good. She turned back to the problem at hand. "There's got to be another way."

Percy rolled his eyes. "If you've got another idea, then great. If not, I'm asking Hermes."

They had a silent staring contest. Annabeth was torn between being irritated and being distracted by his sea-green eyes; gods, this dating thing was annoying sometimes. Finally, she relented, not because he was cute, but because she really didn't want to start a fight over Hermes and a monster's head. Neither was worth an argument.

"Fine," she said. "Ask Hermes. But only because I can't think of another way to get rid of this thing and it smells."

Percy looked slightly guilty. "Look, if there was any other way we could think of, I would—I mean, I know how you feel about that whole thing, but—."

"Percy," Annabeth said. He looked at her and for an instant she saw a flicker of the doubt and hurt she had seen the day she'd told him the last line of her prophecy about the Labyrinth. Her heart twisted. "It's okay, I promise. Let's just get rid of this thing so we can move on with our night."

"Okay," he said with a small smile. Annabeth returned it, though what she really wanted to do was fling her arms around his neck again and kiss him until they both forgot about the whole mess with Luke, Hermes, and Kronos. But the katobleps head wasn't making this a particularly romantic spot (it really did stink), so she had to settle for holding his hand, instead. Percy looked slightly happier as he laced his fingers through hers before turning to look up at the sky and saying, "Hey, Hermes, what's up? Listen, um, if you're not too busy, I was wondering if you could make a delivery for me."

Annabeth half-suspected that nothing would happen, but to her surprise, a box just the right size for the monster's head suddenly appeared at Percy's feet, accompanied by a small drawstring money-pouch and a marker.

"I didn't realize we'd have to pay," Percy said, looking at the pouch. "Do you have any drachmas?"

Annabeth nodded and pulled a gold drachma out of her pocket. "You should always have one on hand, in case of emergencies, Seaweed Brain."

"Does this count as an emergency?" he asked as he bent to pick up the katobleps head and dropped it into the box.

"Have you smelled that thing?"

"Good point," he said. Annabeth handed him the drachma and he put it in the money pouch.

"Do you think one will be enough?" she asked.

"It better be. All he has to do is shoot it across Long Island." Percy shut the box and picked up the marker. "Uh, how do you spell 'katobleps'?"

"If the two of us try to spell that, we'll be here all night," Annabeth said. "Just write 'monster head, don't look,' and leave it at that. Chiron will figure it out."

Percy wrote what she said, then dropped the marker into the bag with the drachma. "Okay, so that goes to Chiron, at the Big House at Camp Half-Blood. Please."

There was a small popping noise, then the box disappeared and was replaced by a slip of paper. Annabeth picked it up. It was a receipt written in Ancient Greek. "One katobleps's head, delivered to Chiron at Camp Half-Blood," she read. "Courtesy of Hermes Express. And there's a note at the bottom." Annabeth read it, then snorted, and handed the receipt to Percy. "That's definitely for you."

"P.S. George says you owe him one rat." Percy rolled his eyes again and slipped the receipt into his pocket. "That snake is obsessed." He looked around on the ground, then frowned. "He took my t-shirt!"

"Would you really want to wear it again after it touched that thing?"

"Probably not," Percy admitted. "But still, I liked that shirt!"

Annabeth bit back a laugh. "What shirt was it?"  
"My Yankees t-shirt. I got it when Paul and I went to a game this summer." Percy was pouting like a five-year-old.

Annabeth kissed his cheek. "I'm sure he'll get you another one."

"I guess," Percy said, kicking the sand. He stuck his hands in his pockets, looked confused for a second, then his face lit up. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I have something for you."

"Okay," Annabeth said, "but can we move farther down the beach? That thing's stench is still hanging around."

"Definitely," Percy said. He grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as he half-jogged away from the spot where the katobleps had met its end.

About a hundred yards down the beach, Percy stopped and turned to face her, still holding her hand. He took a deep breath. "Okay, so since we're officially dating and everything, I wanted to get you something."

"You didn't have to—," Annabeth started to say, but Percy held up his hand.

"I know, but I wanted to. It's nothing big, and I know you don't really care about flowers or jewelry or anything like that, but I thought you might like this." He reached into his pocket, then opened his hand to show Annabeth the piece of perfectly rounded red coral resting on his palm. "It's from the coral garden at my dad's place. That's where I went this morning. I figured you could wear it on your camp necklace. If, you know, you wanted to." He met her eyes and Annabeth saw the same uncertainty on his face that she had seen when he'd asked her to come to Montauk, like he actually thought she might reject him. _After everything_, she thought wonderingly, _he still doesn't get it_. _What a seaweed brain_.

Annabeth took the piece of coral with one hand, while, with the other, she pulled him close and kissed him. She remembered holding his hand on Charon's boat as they crossed the River Styx and how glad she was to have another living human being next to her. She thought about him holding her in the bubble under the water after he rescued her from the sirens, how he had traveled across the country to find her after she'd been kidnapped by Atlas, the expression on his face after she'd kissed him in Mount St. Helens. The expression on his face when she kissed him on his birthday. And how, after he'd refused immortality, the first thing he did was turn to look at her.

They'd only been dating two weeks, but Percy had been the most important person in her life for a lot longer than that. She put as many of these emotions as she could into the kiss, hoping she could get rid of that uncertainty she kept seeing on his face. She thought she might have succeeded, because when she finally pulled away, Percy looked dumbstruck.

"So, I guess you like it?" he managed to say.

"Percy, it's perfect," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, watching as she added the piece of coral to her necklace. "I'm going to have to start raiding my dad's garden more often."

Annabeth laughed. "The coral's great, Percy, but, to be honest, what I really like is just you."

"Just me?" Percy grinned and slid his hands around her waist.

"Yeah, just you, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck again and caught the mischievous, affectionate glint in his sea-green eyes.

"That's good," Percy said, "because I like you, too." When he kissed her, every thought melted out of her brain. It wasn't a feeling she was used to, but she didn't mind it.

When they finally broke apart, it took them both a moment to catch their breath. "So, overall, a pretty good weekend, right?" Percy asked.

"Absolutely," Annabeth said. Arms still around his neck, she gave him a final kiss. "Now, let's go back and finish the dishes before your parents get home. And then—."

"Yeah?" Percy said.

"And then, we're going to break out the video games again, because I'm pretty sure I never got a chance to school you on _Mario Kart_ after you beat me at _Halo_." Annabeth almost laughed at the briefly baffled look on her boyfriend's face that was quickly replaced by a grin.

"Oh, it's on," he said.

"Race you back?" she asked. Without waiting for his answer, Annabeth took off running back towards the cabin.

"Cheater!"

A few hours later, the kitchen was clean, Sally and Paul had come home, reminisced about the evening with their friends, then gone to bed, and Annabeth had beaten Percy by at least fifteen points in every tournament on _Mario Kart_ (though he had beat her three games out of five again on _Halo_). Now, the two of them were sitting on the couch watching _Jurassic Park _because Percy told Annabeth it was a crime that she'd never seen it.

"And what, exactly, is so appealing about this movie?" Annabeth asked as a shot of a large pile of dinosaur dung appeared on the screen.

"It's a classic!" Percy said. "It has Tyrannosaurus Rex running around trying to eat people, what's not cool about that?"

"I figured you'd be more into _Jaws_," Annabeth smirked. Onscreen, the weather was just starting to turn stormy.

"I didn't see _Jaws_ until I was fourteen, and by then, I'd already met sharks who were pretty cool," Percy said, "so the one in the movie didn't scare me. T. Rex, on the other hand, is terrifying. One bite and you're done."

"You spend your life getting chased by _actual_ monsters that really are trying to kill you," Annabeth said. "Why would you want to watch a movie about that?"

"Because it's entertaining when it's happening to someone in a movie," Percy pointed out.

"That," Annabeth said, "is a lame answer. And when is T. Rex going to show up?"

"Soon," Percy promised. "And don't judge the movie until you've seen the whole thing." He was giving her that pleading look again and Annabeth relented.

"Fine." Annabeth turned her attention back to the TV just in time to see the cars stall on the track outside the T. Rex enclosure.

As the water in the cup in the car began to tremble and things in general began to go wrong (unsurprisingly) for the people in _Jurassic Park_, Annabeth decided to use the movie to her advantage. When T. Rex devoured his first victim, she scooted closer to Percy, who raised his eyebrows.

"Scared?" he asked.

"Maybe," Annabeth said.

Percy smirked. She knew that he knew perfectly well she wasn't scared by the movie, but he put his arm around her shoulders anyway. "Nice strategy," he said.

"I thought so."

Annabeth had to admit, the movie was better than she'd expected. The velociraptors were genuinely freaky and she was relieved when most of the people managed to make it back off the island at the end.

"What did you think?" Percy asked as the credits rolled.

"It was good," Annabeth said. "Occasionally predictable, but it was fun to watch."

"Told you," Percy said smugly and Annabeth smacked him in the stomach. He had put on an old Camp Half-Blood t-shirt when they'd gotten back to the cabin and it smelled like a combination of a campfire and the sea.

"Let's watch another one," Annabeth said.

"I don't think they have the second _Jurassic Park_ here," Percy said, scanning the DVD titles on the shelves. "They have _Psycho_, though. Please tell me you've seen that before."

"Of course," Annabeth said, sitting up straight as Percy went to switch the DVDs. "Alfred Hitchcock is the master of horror and that shower scene is iconic."

"Want to watch it again?"

"Definitely!"

Percy put the movie in, pressed play, and sat back down next to Annabeth on the couch. "Any chance you're going to get scared again?" he asked.

"It _is_ a horror movie," Annabeth pointed out.

"Good point."

Percy put his arm around her again and Annabeth leaned her head against his shoulder as Janet Leigh's character made the fateful decision to steal $40,000 from her boss. It felt oddly normal, just the two of them watching a movie, like any regular teenagers. _I could get used to this_, Annabeth thought. The thought scared her and thrilled her at the same time. It all came back to wanting to build something that would last, and she remembered her comment to Sally on the beach, that Percy was one of the few people in her life whose presence felt permanent.

Percy glanced down at her and she caught a glimpse of a smile on his face before he turned his attention back to the screen. Annabeth was confused for a moment until she realized she'd been absentmindedly twirling the piece of coral around her necklace.

"You got something to say, Seaweed Brain?" she asked.

"Nope," Percy said, but he gave her a kiss on the cheek before adding, "Shower scene's coming up."

"Terrifying." As the killer stalked into the bathroom, Annabeth snuggled closer to Percy, who tightened his arm around her. _Something permanent_, she thought. Maybe, just maybe, they were off to a good start.

No one was ready to leave the next morning, but, as Paul said, unfortunately they had to be checked out by 11:00am, before the cleaning service came in. The drive back to the city was quiet and uneventful. Percy and Sally both fell asleep and Paul was focused on navigating through the post-holiday weekend traffic, leaving Annabeth to alternate between looking out the window and trying to read _The Great Gatsby_ for English class. After about an hour, she gave up on the book and leaned her head against the glass. She was tired, but she hated sleeping in a moving vehicle when she wasn't on a quest; she didn't know if it was her ADHD or her naturally ingrained desire for knowledge, but she preferred to look out the window and see what was happening. Of course, currently, there wasn't much to see besides a packed highway.

Annabeth yawned. They had ended up putting in _Jaws_ after _Psycho_ (the people who owned the cabin had a really great DVD collection), but Annabeth only remembered about ten minutes of the movie. Between the comfy couch, the fact that it was long after midnight, and the warm feeling of Percy's arm around her, Annabeth had fallen asleep.

She'd woken up a few hours later completely disoriented. It took her several seconds to remember she was in the cabin at Montauk and then to realize that she'd fallen asleep on the couch. Beside her, Percy was fast asleep, drooling on the arm of the sofa. Annabeth smirked as she turned off the TV and the DVD player, remembering his very first day at Camp Half-Blood, which he had spent passed out and drooling in the infirmary. Gods, it felt like that had happened a century ago, not just a few years. She watched him sleep for a moment, then, reluctantly, shook him awake.

He looked just as confused as she had, for a second, then he looked alarmed and quickly wiped his arm across his face.

"You still drool in your sleep," Annabeth said.

"Thanks for reminding me," Percy muttered. He yawned and hauled himself into a sitting position. "What time is it?"

"About four in the morning," Annabeth said. "I thought we'd better go to our own rooms before your mom and Paul wake up and find us on the couch."

"Yeah, that'd be embarrassing," Percy said with another yawn. He stood up, then held out a hand to help her up. "Come on, I'll walk you to your room."

"It's literally twenty feet away," Annabeth said as she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "I think I can find it."

"My mom said it's always good manners to walk your date to her door," Percy said. "Even if it's just down the hallway."

Annabeth smiled as she recalled this. It explained why he always insisted on walking her back to her dorm, even though he knew perfectly well she could take care of herself. But, she had to admit, the little bit of chivalry was kind of nice.

Two uneventful hours later, they crossed the East River back into Manhattan. Annabeth was a little sorry as they turned down the street her dormitory was on. But, she remembered, she had new plans ready for Olympus this week, which she was excited about, and it wasn't like she wouldn't see Percy, Sally, or Paul for a long time; she'd probably spend most of the upcoming weekend at the Jackson-Blofis apartment. And, in the meantime, her nice, neat dorm room was waiting for her.

Percy, who had been awake for a while, hopped out to help her get her stuff out of the trunk.

"You walking me to my door again?" she asked as he handed her backpack to her.

"Of course," he said with a grin.

They crossed the sidewalk and climbed the five steps to the dormitory door.

"I think this is my stop," Annabeth said.

"Looks like it," Percy replied. His hands were jammed in his pockets and Annabeth couldn't decide if he seemed reluctant to leave or if he was just reluctant to kiss her good-bye in front of his parents, who were studiously looking at the other side of the street.

"Thank you for inviting me to go to Montauk," Annabeth said. "I had a great weekend."

"Me too." Percy flashed her a smile and Annabeth's heart melted. She decided all of New York could watch for all she cared as she leaned forward and kissed Percy.

"You know," she said when she pulled away, "it's our one-month anniversary in a couple weeks."

"Uh-huh," Percy said. He looked a little foggy and Annabeth resisted both the urge to laugh and to roll her eyes.

"So, do you want to celebrate it or something?" she asked.

"What?" Percy blinked, then seemed to focus on her again. "Oh, yeah, we should celebrate. We could do, like, a special dinner or something, if you want."

"Really?" Annabeth was surprised, but pleased.

"Yeah, definitely! I'll take care of the whole thing." Percy grinned at her. "It'll be awesome."

Annabeth smiled back. "I'm sure it will be. And I guess I'll see you Friday?" They had been trying to figure out, between school and Annabeth's job on Olympus, one night a week where they would definitely see each other. Friday, so far, had seemed to work best.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we should go old-school style, do dinner and a movie. What do you think?"

"Sounds great." Annabeth swiped her key card to get into her dorm. "IM me later," she said as she opened the door.

"Oh, I will," Percy said. He gave her his annoyingly endearing sarcastic smile. "I have geometry homework and no idea how to do it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You couldn't have mentioned that this weekend? We could have finished it Saturday night."

Percy looked horrified. "You can't do homework on vacation!"

"I'm pretty sure you _can_, Seaweed Brain, you just didn't _want _to." Annabeth shook her head, but she smiled. "Give me an hour to get unpacked and everything, then IM me. I'll help you with your geometry."

"You're the best!" Percy gave her a last, quick kiss, before bounding down the steps back to the car. "Talk to you in an hour!"

Annabeth waved as Sally, Paul, and Percy drove away, then headed into her building. While she climbed the stairs, she made a quick to-do list in her head: unpack, shower, go over her geometry notes, and wait for her ridiculous boyfriend to call. Her hand unconsciously reached up to twirl the piece of coral around her necklace and she smiled. Life was good.

*****A/N: This chapter took me forever to write, but since it's the last chapter in this story, I really wanted it to be good. I hope it is. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. You're all awesome! And, good news, only one month until House of Hades!*****


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